Negin Farsad was born in the United States, growing up in the desert of Southern California. She first obtained a Bachelors Degree in Theatre Arts and Government from Cornell University. Her dual interest in the arts and politics continued when she moved to New York City – studying for a Masters degree in Race Relations at Columbia University by day but writing and performing comedy by night. She followed that degree with a second Masters from Columbia at the School of International & Public Affairs with a focus on Urban Management and worked as a senior policy advisor for the City of New York, eventually leaving for full-time uncertainty in the world of performing and visual arts!

Negin was recently named one of the 50 Funniest Women by the Huffington Post. She was also named a 2013 TED Fellow and gave a TEDTalk about her work in Social Justice Comedy.

Negin has written for several television series including MTV's Detox, the PBS animated series 1001 Nights, the Nickelodeon series Class Parents,Nerdcore Rising, Comedy Central's The Watch List

As a standup comedian she has opened for the likes of Al Franken and Bobby Lee (Mad TV) in venues ranging from the Laugh Factory in New York, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, and Town Hall on Broadway. Negin has provided original comedy content for PBS, Pacifica and Sirius Radio stations. She has been an active comedian and producer for over ten years earning a nomination for the Emerging Comics of New York Awards and her own off-Broadway run for the comedy show The Dirty Immigrant Collective. Her solo show Bootleg Islam, which she wrote and performed, has appeared in the DC, Dallas, and Chicago Comedy Festivals among others. Her work has been called “smart, funny, and fascinating” by the Wall Street Journal, a Critic’s Choice by the Chicago Tribune, “a shining exception,” by the Dallas Morning News, and Backstage cheered that it “doesn’t get much funnier than this!”

Queen Rania of Jordan commissioned a video from Farsad as part of a web series to combat Middle Eastern stereotypes – this series later won the first ever YouTube Visionary Award. But the accolades don’t stop there! Farsad recently won the Lifetime Women Filmmaker Award for her short film, Hot Bread Kitchen. She has been a grant recipient from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and was also honored with a Columbia University Fellowship.